But Barack Obama captured the world’s imagination with his response to the Charlottesville neo-Nazi controversy at the weekend.

His tweet quoting Nelson Mandela: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion...”, with a picture of himself visiting children of different races, inspired millions around the planet and has become the most popular post on the social media channel ever, according to social media tracking website Favstar.

With the world increasingly looking online for reactions, moments and a gauge for public opinion, the list of most liked posts makes for interesting reading.

In first, Obama’s post from Sunday has, at the time of writing this article, 4.1million likes. Next, with 2.7million likes is pop star Ariana Grande’s simple reaction to the bombing at her concert in Manchester in May. She wrote: “Broken. From the bottom of my heart, I am so, so sorry. I don’t have words.”

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The world’s most popular selfie, taken by Ellen De Generes at the 2014 Oscars, is in third, with 2.41million likes.

In fourth is Obama’s last tweet as president, liked 1.88million times. He wrote: “Thank you for everything. My last ask is the same as my first. I’m asking you to believe – not in my ability to create change, but in yours.”

Fifth is a tweet from defeated presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who wrote last year: “To all the little girls watching...never doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world.” That had 1.25million likes.